New League of Legends champion select layout failed at MSI

Since Riot Games really has only one flagship in the form of League of Legends under their belt, they do whatever they can to try and improve the quality of the game in all aspects. This MSI, the developer attempted to showcase a new version of the champion select layout that was designed specifically for esport events. However, it only caused viewers to express their dissatisfaction, rather loudly.

The intent was to shift the focus of the viewer towards player reactions in the champion select and banning phase before the game starts rather than the usual portrayal of the champion select UI itself for the majority of the screen. Usually it is the players’ faces and names that are in compact form, but with the new layout, the champion selection and banning is minimized in favor of the professional players.

As a consequence, players found it more difficult to understand which champions were being picked and banned. In response, Riot Games have declared through their actions that the new layout was a mistake. By the third game, the old methodology of showcasing the pick and ban phase for League of Legends was back.

We sincerely appreciate your feedback on our test of a new broadcast look for champion select. We are reverting to the original champion select and will consider all of the feedback we received as we continue to iterate and improve the broadcast. Thank you and enjoy #MSI2018!

By nature, people are quite resistant to change so it comes to no surprise that not many people liked the new direction the production team was taken for the League of Legends esports scene. Perhaps in time players would come to accept the change and realize the advantages to the new layout, but Riot rightfully seems to believe that such a small change is not worth the present backlash.

Interestingly enough, Dota 2 features a similarly small ban and pick layout screen for its tournaments, but they certainly do go out of their way to showcase the phase through other means as teams decide over their team composition. For example, in 2016, The International for Dota 2 utilized AR (Augmented Reality) to show which heroes were being banned and picked for which player in the venue.